Li Chongyi, the governor of Chenzhou, climbed the city tower early in the morning and looked south. The left and right people did not dare to speak, and there was a dull and anxious atmosphere in the castle tower. The Liao army was frustrated in its southern expedition and retreated to the north, and the prefectures and counties it passed through were burned, killed and looted, and the Song people were unable to survive. The violence of the Liao army. The line spread quickly, therefore, after receiving the news of the great Northern Expedition of the imperial court and the great victory of Zhao Xingde's department, Liang Zheng, a wealthy gentleman of Chenzhou, persuaded Li Chongyi, the governor of Zhizhou, to change his banner, recruit strong men, build war equipment, close the city 'gate', and no longer provide food and civilian men and other military supplies for the Liao army. In the past few days, two or three groups of Khitan cavalry have passed by, and the countryside near the state city has almost become a ghost domain. More than 100,000 soldiers and civilians in a city were not only happy, but also afraid, worried that they would be slaughtered by the Liao soldiers in anger.

Zhizhou Li Chongyi was even more anxious, and every day he had to run to the city and look south for a long time, hoping that Wang Shi would arrive early.

The scorching sun scorched the ground, and on the southern horizon, the suburbs of the originally populated state city were now empty everywhere. Because of the scourge of the Liao soldiers, there is not even a ghost. The farmland near the state city was untended, and the weeds grew half a man's height. Wild dogs that eat dead bodies are scurrying around in groups, and there have been several cases of wild dogs biting and biting people these days, and Li Chongyi had to let Zhuang Ding hold knives and sticks to protect the old and weak 'women' and children, and go out of the city twice a day in the morning and evening to dig up wild vegetables. After repeated extortion and looting by the Bianliang court and the Liao soldiers, the grain in the city was pitifully small. I'm afraid that when I can't survive the winter, there will be a shortage of food.

"Heaven and earth are furnaces, all things are copper, the 'chaotic' world is alive and soulful, and people are not as good as grass." After waiting for nearly half an hour, Li Chongyi sighed in disappointment and was about to turn around and leave. He has already thought clearly, he is just a scholar, not a talent for the stability of the country, and following the Bianliang court to 'serve' the Hu people, he has already lost his integrity. But it can never be repeated. Whether it is the Liao soldiers breaking the city, or the cannibalism in the city due to lack of food, what he can do is to commit suicide in time, so as not to become a laughing stock.

Suddenly, Liang Zheng's face was gloomy, and he was 'wanting' to go down to the city with him, and suddenly, his eyes lit up, and the shadows of several cavalry faintly appeared on the horizon in the distance. Persuading Zhizhou Li Chongyi to change his banner was the biggest gamble Liang Zheng had ever made in his life. Since the change of banners, Liang Zheng has been praying day and night for the early arrival of the king's master, although he can't see the other party's way clearly, but Liang Zheng seems to be sure of his heart in a moment, and his eyes are wide with hope, watching the cavalry slowly gallop towards the city wall. At this time, the scout of the tower also shouted: "Someone is coming! ”

Zhizhou Li Chongyi stopped and looked into the distance blankly, in the past few days, there have been more Khitan cavalry passing by, in addition to bringing all the grass and trees, there are also many outrageous and brutal rumors. He subconsciously looked at his side, Liang Zheng's face was full of expectation, which made Li Chongyi involuntarily look forward to it.

The drowsy and sleepy soldiers in the city seemed to have come to their senses all at once, and those who were sitting behind the battlements got up, put their hands on the pergola and looked into the distance, and the galloping cavalry was getting closer and closer. The horsemen all covered their mouths and noses with red cloths, and their armor was covered with a thick layer of dust. After vaguely distinguishing the style of Song Jun's armor, Liang Zheng's heart hung higher. Since the southern invasion of the Liao Kingdom, a large number of iron armor of the Song army have been captured, and it is impossible to distinguish whether it is the Song and Liao armies from the armor alone. "Who the hell is it? Although Chen Zhou did not have powerful soldiers and horses, there were at least thousands of strong guards on the head of the city. "These horsemen are coming straight for the city," he thought to himself. ”

The cavalry galloped to the front, slowed down the mount, and went to ride in his arms for a while, took out a large flag and tied it to the ash gun, held it high, the flag fluttered in the wind, and under the scorching sun, a big and strong "Zhao" character was particularly eye-catching. At this moment, Li Chongyi actually felt like a long drought and a rainy day, and shouted loudly: "General Zhao has arrived!" He turned his head to look at Liang Zheng and asked in a gaffe, "Brother Liang, is this the banner of General Zhao Xingde?" ”

"Xing Xing......" Liang Zhengqiang held back the surprise, nodded calmly, and hesitated: "Xing, yes." ”

Bianliang's newspaper always only has the military exploits of the Liao army, and there is no real news about the battle situation at all, and after Chenzhou changed banners anyway, he can't even get this kind of false news. Li Chongyi and Liang Zheng only knew that Zhao Xingde led his troops to pursue the Liao army all the way and recover the old rivers and mountains, and they also received the inscription secretly sent in, and it was this inscription that strengthened Li Chongyi's determination to change his banner. But they didn't know the true strength of Zhao Xingde's army and where it went.

Fortunately, General Zhao's envoy opened the 'door' to see the mountain and reported his identity, did not care about Liang Zheng's tedious and careful inquiry, and volunteered to make a rattan basket instead of going through the city 'gate'. The messenger's face was thick with dust, his lips were chapped, but his demeanor revealed an indescribable arrogance, he took out a yellow silk book from his arms, and announced the will of the imperial court on behalf of him, Li Chongyi is still the governor of the state, and after the Chenzhou county school elected the governor in the future, the court will have another appointment, and the righteous man Liang Zheng will be named the history of the assassin of Chenzhou. The two of them should hold the city together with the soldiers and civilians of the city, waiting for the imperial army to come. These cavalrymen also stayed behind to defend the city with the soldiers and civilians of Chenzhou, and undertook the liaison between the city and Zhao Xingde's headquarters.

"Dare to ask,...... "Noble envoy," Li Chongyi asked carefully, "where did General Zhao march and how many men and horses did he ,......, send to aid Chenzhou?" Liang Zheng, who had just been awarded the title of Chenzhou Assassin, and the Chenzhou officials and soldiers next to him also looked at the envoy with a look of anticipation.

"The forward General Yang Zaixing has entered Shangcai," the envoy said proudly, "The Liao army fled all the way, General Zhao is personally commanding the army, all the way to the north to pursue, now the Central Plains walled city has raised volunteers to attack the Liao, General Zhao can not be one of the troops, but since we have brought the general's banner here, this city is naturally convenient for my northern expedition army to become one, as stable as Mount Tai." After speaking, the messenger did not wait for Li Chongyi and Liang Zheng to agree, and ordered his subordinates to hang the banner of "Zhao" on the flagpole of the city tower.

Li Chongyi and Liang Zheng glanced at each other, the canonization of the imperial court, the prestige of Zhao Xingde, and the grandeur of this envoy, the two of them invisibly added a little confidence, and each nodded secretly. Liao soldiers and horses, talents are very limited, since the southern invasion, a large number of counties and towns in Hebei and Henan have followed the Song State to demote officials and generals, now the situation has changed, Zhao Xingde and Wen wen, heard the scenery from the crowd. Since he was going to prepare for a decisive battle with the Liao army, he naturally couldn't thin out his 'elite' sharpness. Being able to send these cavalrymen to bring the imperial court canonization and banners is already the greatest support for the Yiqi army and people. The rest depends on the people of Chenzhou to try their best to fight for their own survival.

The "Zhao" flag hung on the city tower, and the news that Chenzhou returned to the Great Song Dynasty spread throughout the city in a moment.

"The imperial army is coming."

"It's General Zhao's men and horses, who broke the Liao army not long ago."

"Before winter, it's too peaceful outside, and we can escape to the countryside."

Su XVII 'licked' his mouth and lips and chatted with himself. I thought comfortingly. In the past few months, he has been cooking porridge with wild grass every day, and his wife and children can't even drink wild vegetable porridge, and they are as hungry as skeletons. Su Qiqi has the intention to flee with his family, and he can always find something to eat in the countryside, but it is not extremely dangerous outside the state city, and I heard that many villages have been burned to the ground by the Khitans. When it is too peaceful outside, he can escape with his family and not starve to death in the city, which has become Su Seventeen's greatest luxury.

............

In the city of Ezhou, the news about the march of the commanders of the Northern Expedition changed almost every day. From the ministers and scholars to the soldiers and the common people, what they met and talked about was the news of the Northern Expedition, and the focus of the focus was the location of Zhao Xingde's vanguard march. Zhao Huan sent people to the military department every day to report to the palace, not only that, but also to listen to his subordinates report all kinds of street talk.

"General Zhao has passed Suizhou......"

"General Zhao's army has captured Wusheng Pass, and the army will pursue the Liao soldiers to the north......"

"General Zhao's general Luo commanded and captured the Xinyang army, and the defending general Tian Weiyue Yizhi surrendered to General Zhao......"

"General Zhao recruited the guards of Luoshan, Xinxi, and Zhenyang......"

"The army conquered the mountain in just one day and killed thousands of rebels......"

"General Zhao captured Caizhou ......"

"The striker, General Yang Zaixing, has already arrived in Shangcai......"

"Chenzhou has changed banners, and General Zhao has sealed Zhizhou Li Chongyi on behalf of the imperial court, and assassinated Shi Liang Zheng."

Under the deliberate promotion of the Prime Minister's Office, tens of thousands of people witnessed it with their own eyes and spread the news that the first battle of the Northern Expedition had won a great victory and was progressing smoothly, and it quickly spread throughout Jingxiang Prefectures and counties. The military pigeons report the recent march to Ezhou almost every day. Although the Ministry of War was worried that the location of Zhao Xingde's headquarters would be exposed, the Prime Minister's Office still insisted on publishing it in the daily newspaper, and then the state and county ya's 'gates' made it public, so that the people of the state and county could know the battle situation on the front line in the shortest possible time.

With the armies marching northward, it was necessary for the people to continuously transport a large amount of military grain to the north, and Wang Gui also needed a large amount of grain and grass to train and supplement the battalion in Ezhou, and the Prime Minister's Mansion had squeezed the people's power from the counties in the southeast to the extreme. Various prefectures and counties have reported that people have died of starvation, and there have even been cases of poor people who could not afford to pay taxes and their families hanged themselves to take poison. If it weren't for the state and county gentry who vigorously donated to support the Northern Expedition, if the non-state and county officials were still honest and honest, and there were few people who were 'fat' on the pretext, if it weren't for the inspiring news that kept coming out, the people still had a glimmer of hope for a peaceful life, but they were afraid that they would be officials everywhere.' Force'.Min. The opposite is true.

"The burden of taxes borne by the people of the southeast has far exceeded that of Cai Li's 'traitor' when the party was in power, and if you borrow land again, I am afraid that you will really starve all over the land." Chen Mingche, the head of the household, said worriedly, "Shaoyang, even if it is to kill the 'chicken' to get eggs, let's discuss with you, how to make the big rich businessmen donate more money and grain." ”

Chen Mingche sighed and shook his head, many prefectures and counties in various places have a deep relationship with the local rich and powerful businessmen, and forcing them to donate money and grain is like plucking the 'feathers' from the 'chicken', and it is as difficult as not letting the 'chicken' crow and peck at people. Many of the leaders of the Lishe Qingliu were also the leaders of the rebellion against the imperial court in various places, and they knew the powerful parties in them well, but now the situation is turbulent, and everyone is easily unwilling to make a rebellion for the tax increase.

Dawn of the Empire:

Chapter 100 Turning the Night Lang Tian-14: